cornell_cheme_carfandomcom-20200213-history
Christine Codignotto
Christine Codignotto is the current leader of the Safety Subteam of Cornell ChemE Car. She joined the team in Fall 2012. Background Christine has been a member of the ChemE Car team for the past 5 semesters and has been the leader of the Safety sub-team since Fall 2013. She had no prior experience with lab safety, but has enjoyed learning about the many ways to keep our team safe! She started working with the Battery team as a volunteer and has been able to work with each power sub-team during the past 5 semesters. In addition to ChemE Car, she is also an officer of the Club Field Hockey team and volunteers with Lights Off. She is graduating in the Spring of 2015 and moving to Boston, MA to work as an engineering consultant. Fall 2012 My first semester with the ChemE Car project team was a great experience! As a volunteer I was able to learn so much more than I expected to in such a short period of time. Being a member of both the Safety and Battery sub-teams allowed me to develop a general knowledge of the team as a whole, as well as a thorough understanding of one of the cars. This was also largely due to learning through teamwork, which I think is one of the best features of this team. Every member seems eager to teach volunteers, along with other members, and seems motivated to make the team successful. One of the most prominent projects I worked on was researching the process of Hydrostatic testing. By doing this I learned that this type of testing is performed in order to ensure that a pressure vessel does not contain any leaks. After writing up the results from my research of this process I was also asked to find potential companies to perform a hydrostatic test on our team’s pressure vessel. This process proved to be difficult because most companies are located in other states and require shipping of the vessels. Also, many companies focus on large-scale vessels compared to the one that we want to be tested. As a result, I discovered that the companies that are most likely to help us are companies that focus on firefighting equipment, as well as paintball equipment. Spring 2013 My most influential deliverable for the Battery sub-team involved researching the potential safety hazards associated with fertilizers. This research was necessary because one potential solution to increase the amperage of the earth battery being researched was to add fertilizer to the compost. Through this research I learned that a common compound in fertilizers is ammonium nitrate. There is a high amount of nitrogen in this compound, which assists in the metabolic processes of plants. However, ammonium nitrate is also used in a very different situation. It is also the main component in a type of explosive called Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO). This explosive is most commonly used for mining purposes and is about 94% ammonium nitrate, by concentration. It can also be made into fertilizer bombs, which are improvised terrorist explosives. Although we never brought fertilizer into the lab, conducting this research helped educate me about the combustible nature of ammonium nitrate. I also learned that any new thing proposed to be used in the lab should be thoroughly researched, even if it is a commonly used item. My long-term Safety sub-team deliverable was to completely develop the Battery car EDP. The first step was creating a document that would serve as the basic framework of the EDP for Regionals this spring. With this foundation, I began to fill in the more detailed information. Two separate documents were created: one for Aluminum-Air batteries and one for Lithium-Ion batteries. Two separate documents were created because the Battery sub-team was not entirely sure which battery it was going to be using in the car for Regionals and the EDP is due a month before competition. In addition to using the old EDP’s as reference, I also contacted members of other sub-teams in order to get information about the chassis, stopping mechanism, and electronic components of the car. Fall 2013 This was my first semester as the leader of the Safety sub-team. I worked very closely with Bill Leonard, a Cornell EHS employee. He was able to provide us with boxes to ship chemicals from our lab, help fill out labels required on the boxes, and had quick access to the exact amount of each chemical that could be shipped per vial. Working with him saved a lot of time and stress since he has had many years of experience shipping chemicals across the country and internationally for various groups at Cornell. I contacted him within the first 2 weeks of the semester to ask if he could assist us with shipping chemicals to Nationals and then provided him with as much information as possible about the quantities we needed to ship and exactly what we had to get to competition. From that point on we exchanged emails often to prepare to ship the boxes and then he came to our lab to help package them properly. Once the boxes were taped and labeled, one of our members drove them to a FedEx office near campus. Copies of the FedEx forms included with the boxes are typically available in Olivia Cully’s office in Olin Hall. The second major task I completed this semester was recruiting new volunteers. To recruit new volunteers to the safety sub-team it was very important to attend the info sessions at the beginning of the semester. Not only was it important to present the information about the safety team, but it was also important to meet with the potential volunteers to answer any specific questions and encourage them to join the team. In addition, I gave my email to as many potential volunteers as possible and was able to address any concerns that these people had so they were more likely to join the team. After the interview process and choosing the new volunteers, it was important to gradually introduce them to the team in a way that made them feel useful but not overwhelmed. Careful planning was done in the syllabus to slowly integrate the volunteers into the safety sub-team, as well as the team as a whole. Besides the weekly sub-team meetings, it is also helpful to go to all of the team bonding events and encourage the volunteers to go with you. This semester was the first semester to my knowledge in which volunteers were able to explore the different power teams and choose which fit their interests best. In the past, safety members were recruited to fill a specific spot on the team. However, this semester we had 3 power teams without a safety representative and 2 new volunteers so they were able to explore all 3 power teams and then choose the team they felt most comfortable working with. To keep this process organized and flexible, the volunteers were encouraged to attend as many sub-team meetings as they wanted to become more informed. They would then update me with what they learned, what each sub-team was currently working on, and if it interested them or not. Towards the end of the semester, I assigned deliverables that helped summarize their experience and choose the sub-team that was best for them. At this point, all of the volunteers seem satisfied with this process and their decision. Spring 2014 This was an unprecedented semester for the Safety sub-team. Since it is a fairly new team, this is the first semester we were able to have more than 2 members and the first semester we were able to have members of various grades. Having more than 2 members allows our team to work on more projects and tasks while the EDPs are being developed and also allows us to be more involved with each of the power teams. Having members of various grades is essential to the growth and development of our sub-team. At this point, we have 2 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 1 freshman. This is a perfect balance because we have experienced members helping new members learn about our sub-team and team as a whole. Instead of being forced to learn spontaneously while working on certain projects, younger members can learn from the more experienced members before taking on large responsibilities. The larger sub-team has definitely required a change in the sub-team dynamic, organization, and leadership. It is important to keep everyone updated and have consistent weekly meetings. Increased involvement with the power teams, along with the development of all of the power teams, has also led to a need for more organization. Generally, this organization was reflected in the process of assigning, monitoring, and evaluating deliverables. In the past, the only prolonged deliverables were the EDPs. However, the progress of Pressure and Bio this semester also required longer and more time intensive deliverables. To monitor progress and help members adjust their work throughout the process, it was common for checkpoints to be set on an individual basis. These checkpoints were either through email, during the weekly meeting, or one-on-one at a time during the week. The changes in leadership necessary besides a higher level of organization were mainly focused on finding a balance between challenging old members while educating new members. To achieve this balance, I had the old members working with and mentoring the new members until they were comfortable with their responsibilities. Another significant aspect of this semester was the major change made to one of the cars competing at Regionals. Due to issues with the purchased fuel cell, the Fuel Cell team decided to order a make-your-own fuel cell kit to replace the failing fuel cell. After the fuel cell safety team liaison heard about this, she contacted me to keep me updated on the situation. I realized that this was a significant change and we would have to classify it as a “major change” when revising the EDP before Regionals. When a major change is made to a car, the advisor of the team also has to sign the changes request form. Unfortunately, since the EDP edits were released only 6 days before competition, this resulted in a little chaos. The form had to be prepared with the AIChE suggested edits, as well as our own, and signed by Professor Zia before we could leave for competition. In the future, if any major changes are made to a car, it is imperative that the advisor is notified as soon as possible. In an effort to eliminate situations like this in the future, Professor Zia requested that changes be made to our constitution with respect to the safety sub-team leader position. These changes were meant to make this position reflect the role of a safety engineer in industry. They will also assure the safety sub-team lead that decisions made to ensure safety that could prevent the team from competing can be made without grade penalty or undue pressure from other teams, and to allow the other sub team leads, the captains, and the advisor sufficient time to make informed decisions to approve or disapprove of changes made which potentially affect safety. The amendment was drafted by myself and approved by the senior captain before being sent to Professor Zia for the final approval. It was presented at the following sub-team leaders meeting, as well as the following general body meeting. Fall 2014 This was the first semester in my experience that the Fuel Cell car competed at Nationals. The Safety sub-team is responsible for getting the car to and from the competition, which was typically not a problem because we have always drove to Regionals. Bringing the Fuel Cell car on a plane required coordination with Cornell EHS and the TSA at all airports the team is traveling through. For the Fuel Cell car to be a carry-on item, the TSA must be able to shine a flashlight through any component of the car to ensure it does not contain any chemicals or is holding any pressure. In addition, we had Bill Leonard from EHS write a letter explaining the safety precautions we took to travel with this car and gave a copy to the security guards at both airports. During the first day of competition, the most important event is the safety inspection. During this process, the EDP is reviewed by safety experts from AIChE and the team members present are asked questions about the car. If the safety inspection is not passed, the team is not allowed to compete the next day. Therefore, it is crucial that the safety officer is thoroughly prepared for this safety audit. The table should be prepared with our poster, samples of the potions equipment, the actual car, the EDP binder, at least one lab apron and any other items that could assist explanations of how the car functions. At Nationals this semester, an additional round of the safety inspection was added to thoroughly investigate the stopping mechanism. It is essential for the potions members to thoroughly understand the calibration curve presented in the EDP and be able to explain it to judges and safety reviewers clearly. Spring 2015 External Links Category:Safety Category:Members Category:Safety Members Category:Fall 2012 Members Category:Spring 2013 Members Category:Fall 2013 Members Category:Spring 2014 Members Category:Fall 2014 Members Category:Spring 2015 Members